Melrose Park

Power was restored today to about 1,300 customers in Melrose Park after an outage. The outage started about 11 a.m. and ended at about noon, said Arlana Johnson, a ComEd spokeswoman. It affected the area near the Winston Plaza shopping center at North Avenue and 9th Avenue in the west suburban village. Shoppers at the plaza could be seen coming out of stores without power. The cause of the outage was not immediately known. Tribune reporter Rex Huppke contributed.

Power was restored today to about 1,300 customers in Melrose Park after an outage. The outage started about 11 a.m. and ended at about noon, said Arlana Johnson, a ComEd spokeswoman. It affected the area near the Winston Plaza shopping center at North Avenue and 9th Avenue in the west suburban village. Shoppers at the plaza could be seen coming out of stores without power. The cause of the outage was not immediately known. Tribune reporter Rex Huppke contributed.

A 69-year-old Chicago man died this morning after he was injured last week in a two-car accident in west suburban Melrose Park, officials said. Bruce Dankowski, of the 6100 block of West Berenice Avenue, was pronounced dead at 4:02 a.m. at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Dankowski was injured after the 1987 Oldsmobile he was driving collided with a 2007 Ford Taurus driven by a 23-year-old woman on March 31, said Melrose Park...

A west suburban Melrose Park man died in a traffic accident Thursday, officials said. William Devine, 81, of the 1900 block of North 17th Avenue, was involved in a traffic crash at 30 West Lake Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. At 4:41 p.m. Thursday, Devine was the driver of a 1988 Ford Taurus traveling east on West Lake Street when he crossed into westbound lanes and hit a Ford pickup truck, according to Melrose Park...

A west suburban Melrose Park man died in a traffic accident Thursday, officials said. William Devine, 81, of the 1900 block of North 17th Avenue, was involved in a traffic crash at 30 West Lake Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. At 4:41 p.m. Thursday, Devine was the driver of a 1988 Ford Taurus traveling east on West Lake Street when he crossed into westbound lanes and hit a Ford pickup truck, according to Melrose Park Police Chief Sam Pitassi.

A Melrose Park man is being held on charges he stole almost $1 million from his elderly aunt, using the money to pay for a luxury SUV, a $30,000 wedding and a lavish vacation, police said. Chester Czerwinski, 59, was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail Friday in a bond hearing in Cook County's Maybrook Branch Court after being taken into custody following his indictment Thursday on felony theft and financial exploitation of an...

A shooting in west suburban Melrose Park believed to be fueled by gang rivalries left one teen dead Thursday night and his alleged assailant in custody, police said. The victim, identified as Jimmy Guzman, 17, of the 1600 block of North Mannheim Road in Stone Park, was shot multiple times in Sharp's Park in the 1600 block of North 36th Avenue in Melrose Park, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The attacker was arrested in...

A Melrose Park man is being held on charges he stole almost $1 million from his elderly aunt, using the money to pay for a luxury SUV, a $30,000 wedding and a lavish vacation, police said. Chester Czerwinski, 59, was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail Friday in a bond hearing in Cook County's Maybrook Branch Court after being taken into custody following his indictment Thursday on felony theft and financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person,...

Firefighters from several suburbs battled an extra-alarm blaze in west suburban Melrose Park for three hours this morning before they were able to bring it under control. Melrose Park Fire Chief Rick Beltrame said the fire started about 2 a.m. in an abandoned home in the 1000 block of North 16th Avenue. Flames quickly spread to a home several feet away, causing enough damage to make it temporarily uninhabitable for its half dozen residents, he said. "It was rolling," Beltrame said, noting...

The Sun-Times reports: Family and friends are frantically searching for a 25-year-old Melrose Park man who disappeared Friday during a vacation in a heavily wooded area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Angel Rios, who works as a UPS loader, was last seen wearing a dark T-shirt, swimming trunks and flip flops around 6:30 p.m. Friday. He left his wallet and keys and doesn't have a cell phone, according to his girlfriend. Get the full story: suntimes.com

A 69-year-old Chicago man died this morning after he was injured last week in a two-car accident in west suburban Melrose Park, officials said. Bruce Dankowski, of the 6100 block of West Berenice Avenue, was pronounced dead at 4:02 a.m. at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Dankowski was injured after the 1987 Oldsmobile he was driving collided with a 2007 Ford Taurus driven by a 23-year-old woman on March 31, said Melrose Park...

A shooting in west suburban Melrose Park believed to be fueled by gang rivalries left one teen dead Thursday night and his alleged assailant in custody, police said. The victim, identified as Jimmy Guzman, 17, of the 1600 block of North Mannheim Road in Stone Park, was shot multiple times in Sharp's Park in the 1600 block of North 36th Avenue in Melrose Park, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead on the scene. ...

The neighborhood around St. Charles Borromeo Church in Melrose Park fell silent, at least for a few moments this morning, as a group of Marines carried the white, flag-draped casket of their fallen brother, Frederik E. Vazquez, into the sanctuary for his funeral mass. Marines carry the coffin of Marine Lance Cpl. Frederik E. Vazquez into St. Charles Borromeo Church in Melrose Park on Saturday. (Tribune / Abel Uribe) The Marines -- and a...

Frederik E. Vazquez had talked about becoming a U.S. Marine from the time he was 7, and a few months after reaching the age of 18, he enlisted. "I was proud of him for being brave and for doing what he wanted, for serving his country," Rubelia Vazquez said of her son, "even though deep inside, I didn't want him to go. " Vazquez, 20, a lance corporal from Melrose Park, was killed Saturday in Helmand province, Afghanistan, "while supporting combat operations," the Marine Corps stated...

A Melrose Park man who was arrested Thursday following a year-long drug investigation died at a hospital an hour after being taken into custody. Jerome Gill, 31, of the 1700 block of 1st Ave., was arrested near his home during a sting operation about 12:30 p.m. after he sold drugs to an undercover Cook County Sheriff's police officer. Officers were about to apprehend Gill during the undercover buy but he fled and resisted arrest, said Liane Jackson, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.

A Cook County judge said today witnesses in the murder trial of Carlos Roa of Melrose Park were credible, but there was not enough evidence to convict him in the gang-related shooting death of 18-year-old Jesus Gonzalez of Chicago. Gonzalez was shot and killed in Stone Park while driving a few blocks away from where he had had a confrontation with gang members outside a Melrose Park church on Sept. 17, 2006. Roa, who is now 27, and two others, Santiago Godinez of Stone Park and Jeffrey Pawlak...

Frederik E. Vazquez had talked about becoming a U.S. Marine from the time he was 7, and a few months after reaching the age of 18, he enlisted. "I was proud of him for being brave and for doing what he wanted, for serving his country," Rubelia Vazquez said of her son, "even though deep inside, I didn't want him to go. " Vazquez, 20, a lance corporal from Melrose Park, was killed Saturday in Helmand province, Afghanistan, "while supporting combat operations," the Marine Corps stated...

Melrose Park's former police chief was denied his town pension Thursday because of his federal conviction for shaking down businesses for security jobs. The village's police pension board voted 3-2, after lengthy testimony and more than an hour of deliberations, that Vito Scavo, 62, was not entitled to the benefit. Scavo was sentenced to six years in prison in February for forcing town businesses to hire his private security company, which was staffed at times by on-duty...

Demolition is set to begin today at Kiddieland, the longtime Melrose Park amusement park that was purchased by a Costco to make way for a new store. Officials from the store chain and the village closed on the deal last week. Melrose Park officials say the new store, scheduled to open in November, will generate about two times the annual tax revenue -- $500,000 to $600,000 -- that the park brought in. "Kiddieland had a great run of 81 years and we're sad to see it go," Mayor Ronald Serpico said in...